Introduction

The Kunstverein in Hamburg is delighted to be hosting the ars viva award exhibition again this year after 2003. Since 1953, the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e. V. has been awarding the ars viva prize to outstanding young artists living in Germany whose works reveal an independent formal language and an awareness of contemporary issues. The jury selected the award winners from 49 proposed artists under the age of 35. The current award winners are Karimah Ashadu, Thibaut Henz and Cemile Sahin. They have developed new works and installations especially for the large exhibition space at the Kunstverein in Hamburg, which we are showing together with older works to allow a greater insight into the work of the individual artists.